Reinecke earned particular distinction as director of the Leipzig Conservatory, with its many famous pupils. As a composer and teacher he was generally conservative, maintaining traditional technical standards, and as a conductor he elicited the highest standards of performance from the Gewandhaus Orchestra. He contributed to many forms of music, in particular providing chamber music and piano pieces for a ready amateur market.

Orchestral Music
Reinecke’s three symphonies are meticulously crafted, while a number of his concertos seem to reflect the influence of Mendelssohn in their clarity of texture.

Chamber Music
Reinecke left a quantity of chamber music, sonatas, trios and quartets, couched in a musical language suggesting that of Schumann or Brahms.